Michigan brings to mind images of Lansing, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Michigan has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the places in Michigan that could use a helping hand.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 148 places in Michigan with more than 5,000 people.
We were left with this set of the ten poorest places in the Wolverine State for 2018:
- Highland Park (Photos)
- Benton Harbor (Photos)
- Flint (Photos)
- Muskegon Heights (Photos)
- Dowagiac (Photos)
- Hamtramck (Photos)
- Detroit (Photos)
- River Rouge (Photos)
- Big Rapids (Photos)
- Ecorse (Photos)
Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
And according to the facts, Highland Park is the poorest place in Michigan for 2018.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the richest places in Michigan or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
How We Determined The Poorest Places In Michigan For 2018
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the ‘poorest places’. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2012-2016 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The ‘median household income adjusted for the cost of living’ attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
After we collected the data for all 148 places with more than 5,000 people in Michigan, we ranked each place from 1 to 148 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a ‘Poor Score’ with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Highland Park, crowned the ‘Poorest Place In Michigan For 2018’.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 148 places.
1. Highland Park
Population: 10,978Median Income: $17,455
Unemployment Rate: 28.9%
Poverty Rate: 46.8%
More on Highland Park: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Highland Park, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Michigan thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 10,978 people averages the 1st lowest median household income in Michigan and the 3rd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
User comment that mentions Highland Park: Harper Woods and Highland Park are not suburbs.
Your comment could be here. Add a comment on a city or town.
2. Benton Harbor
Population: 9,988Median Income: $18,962
Unemployment Rate: 23.0%
Poverty Rate: 49.2%
More on Benton Harbor: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
The second poorest city in Michigan is Benton Harbor.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 4th highest in the Wolverine State.
3. Flint
Population: 98,918Median Income: $25,650
Unemployment Rate: 23.7%
Poverty Rate: 41.9%
More on Flint: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Placing as the third poorest city, Flint’s median income ranks as the 6th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 41.9% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Wolverine State.
4. Muskegon Heights
Population: 10,792Median Income: $21,903
Unemployment Rate: 20.9%
Poverty Rate: 43.5%
More on Muskegon Heights: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Muskegon Heights ranks as the fourth poorest place in Michigan.
The town ranks as having the 3rd lowest median household income and the 6th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Dowagiac
Population: 5,863Median Income: $26,201
Unemployment Rate: 18.6%
Poverty Rate: 42.1%
More on Dowagiac: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
The fifth poorest city in Michigan is Dowagiac.
The city ranks as having the 7th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 7th highest in Michigan.
Still not the best news for Dowagiac.
6. Hamtramck
Population: 21,985Median Income: $23,609
Unemployment Rate: 14.1%
Poverty Rate: 49.7%
More on Hamtramck: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Hamtramck ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Wolverine State.
It ranks as having the 1st highest incidence of poverty and the 17th highest unemployment rate.
7. Detroit
Population: 683,443Median Income: $26,249
Unemployment Rate: 22.1%
Poverty Rate: 39.4%
More on Detroit: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Detroit places as the seventh poorest city in Michigan.
The city of over 683,443 ranks as having the 12th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. River Rouge
Population: 7,609Median Income: $27,463
Unemployment Rate: 23.3%
Poverty Rate: 41.0%
More on River Rouge: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
River Rouge ranks as the eighth poorest city in Michigan.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 3rd highest in the state.
9. Big Rapids
Population: 10,495Median Income: $24,524
Unemployment Rate: 14.1%
Poverty Rate: 44.0%
More on Big Rapids: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Big Rapids couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Michigan; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 5th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Big Rapids ranks as having the 5th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Michigan.
10. Ecorse
Population: 9,270Median Income: $26,496
Unemployment Rate: 21.4%
Poverty Rate: 33.6%
More on Ecorse: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Michigan is Ecorse.
The city of 9,270 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Wolverine State.
There You Have It – The Poorest Places In Michigan For 2018
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Michigan, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Michigan.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Michigan, according to data:
Richest: Beverly Hills
2nd Richest: East Grand Rapids
3rd Richest: Huntington Woods
For more Michigan reading , check out:
